Mr. Chair, we have to be careful. We are adults, and we've been around the block. We should stop talking nonsense to each other.
Managing funds allocated to these programs is a federal responsibility. The federal government has full authority to retain or manage that money. If what my colleague says were true, the federal government would have consulted the provinces, including Quebec, to determine whether it could amend the employment insurance program or deprive seniors of $3.2 billion that belongs to them, but which is still in the federal coffers. I can tell you that, in that case, no one asked Quebec's permission because, if that had been the case, it would not have agreed. Mr. Chair, if it's true in one sense, it's also true in the other.
You mustn't take us for people who don't understand things. The amounts at issue here are very small. People who receive incorrect benefit amounts are exceptional cases. That's even more true of those who commit fraud.